PC Magazine's Print Edition Folds

We remember (and this will date us) when the first issues of PC Magazine, founded in 1982, came out. As time progressed, the magazine because huge, pushing 600 pages at the max if we remember correctly (and it's been a while), much of which was advertising. We recall looking at the tome once and trying to figure out how much was actual content.

That was then, this is now.

I'm assuming you don't need anyone to tell you how sour recent times have been for newspapers and all forms of print media. Blame it on the Internet. With many consumers simply going online for information, most of which is free, the age of print media is dying.

On Wednesday Ziff-Davis, which recently exited bankruptcy, announced that the January issue of PC Magazine will be its last; after that it will become all digital. Ziff-Davis also announced that the PCMag Network will be renamed PCMag Digital Network with PCMag.com as its flagship.

Those who subscribe to the magazine will be given a subscription to PC Magazine Digital Edition, which arrives via email and which you can then download. While that's all great, and there are advantages to a digital magazine, like searchability and the like, it's not something you can easily read on a train --- or in the bathroom.

Keeping with the corporate stance of selling as many actions as "green" as possible, in an open letter, PCMag.com cited the following as an advantage to the new all-digital format:

It's Green: You can actually feel good about the amount of paper, ink, and gas we'll all be saving by not producing and consuming a physical magazine.

While true, we still had to laugh.

Not sure if they have your email address? You can go here to set it up.

There is still a question about the gaming division of Ziff-Davis, which includes 1Up and also EGM, which still exists as the only print property still existing at Ziff-Davis.

PaidContent.org spoke with Jason Young, the CEO of Ziff Davis, and received the following information:

PCMag revenues are "in the tens and tens of millions of dollars" (no more specific than that).

Online revenues grew an average of 42% since 2001.

70% of the PC Mag brand's revenues are already digital

The network is profitable.

PCMag brand revenues grew 18% in Q3.

Good luck, Ziff-Davis and PCMag. While this was not unexpected, and this will undoubtedly not be the last print media publisher to go all-digital, it's still the sad end to an era.